Group Violence
The Origins of Group Violence
Ervin Staub
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The central issue of our times is the murder, torture, and
mistreatment of whole groups of people.
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The illusion that society had advanced to a state of
peaceful, civilized interactions has been shattered.
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Certain characteristics of a culture and the structure of
society, combined with great difficulties or hardships,
are the starting point of mass killing.
The Origins of Group Violence
Ervin Staub
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Mass killings are more likely to occur under certain
conditions:
1. Perceived threats to physical safety.
2. Perceive threats to lifestyle.
3. Perceive threats to values and culture.
4. Perceived inequities, past or present.
5. Perceived humiliation, past or present.
6. Unbridled pursuit of power.
The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Mark Juergensmeyer
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The loss of innocence was keenly felt by Americans
as they watched in horror at the televised images of
the September 11, 2001 assaults on New York City’s
World Trade Center and the U.S. Pentagon.
People in other societies have suffered many terrorist
attacks for many years.
Terrorism often is linked with religious fanaticism.
But “religious fanaticism” is too simple an explanation
for terrorism.
Terrorism, like other forms of severe conflict, has
many causes, and like other forms of conflict, often is
justified using appeals to a religious purpose.
The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Mark Juergensmeyer
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Mobilizing a large number of persons to engage in
severe conflict requires appeals to a higher moral
purpose: to “save democracy,” “our way of life,” the
“women and children,” or “our religious beliefs.”
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The factors of mobilization, however, are more diverse
and include economic deprivation, relative deprivation,
perceived humiliation, perceived threats, or desires for
more power.
The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Mark Juergensmeyer
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Terrorism seldom is a lone act. It usually requires a
large network of economic and political support.
As such, it requires much planning, organization, and
mobilization of resources.
The agents of terrorism gain strength through activities
that mobilize resources, but they also gain visibility to
others.
Potential targets of terrorism need to be ever vigilant
to the signs of terrorist organizations.
The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Mark Juergensmeyer
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Potential targets also need a sense of common
purpose to fend off terrorist acts and to inhibit the
ability of terrorist organizations to gain popular support
within the society.
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It is a paradox, therefore, that although terrorist acts
often are justified in part by religiosity, religiosity within
nations who are potential targets of terrorism is
needed to inhibit the growth of terrorist organizations.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Terrorism requires us to think carefully about who we are
as free peoples and what we need to do to remain so.
Constraints on our war against terrorism:
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We cannot allow the claims of national security to
trump the claims of liberty.
Freedom must set a limit to the measures we employ to
maintain it.
We must preserve ourselves and our freedom, but we
cannot do so by denying the moral claims of others
who do not belong to our national community.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
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Our constitutional commitments oblige us to respect
the rights of enemies who do not respect us, to use
lawful methods against those who observe no laws at
all.
If these are the constraints that our moral and political
identity imposes on the war on terror, then the question is:
Can continue to abide by our current sense of national
identity as the threats against us increase?
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
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What happens when terrorists obtain weapons of
mass destruction?
What happens when terrorists emerge from within our
national boundaries rather than infiltrate us from other
lands?
To help us understand possible responses to these and
other important questions we need to understand different
types of terrorism and the kinds of threats they impose
upon us.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Loner Terrorism
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Perpetuated by a single individual or very small groups.
Socially marginalized people.
Psychologically disturbed people.
Feel they have nothing to lose and often take their own
lives in their act of terrorism.
The true nihilist: The loner who is indifferent to fame
and posterity and who wishes to destroy everything
and everyone, including him/herself.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Loner Terrorism
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It will be very difficult if not impossible to stop loner
terrorism.
Constitutional commitments in America guarantee the
right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and a
considerable degree of freedom in movement.
Any large, complex society will have psychologically
disturbed persons who have the means and ability to
strike out against others.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Group Terrorism
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Perpetuated by a group of persons with a clearly
identified goal.
Well-organized and well-funded.
Organized and stable leadership.
Leaders often are charismatic psychopaths.
No appeasement or appeals to reason or compromise
are sufficient to deter terrorist acts.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Group Terrorism
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To fight against group terrorism we first must clearly
identify who we are. We cannot fight and prevail
against an enemy unless we know who we are and
what we wish to defend at all costs.
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Faith in democracy need not make us blind to its faults.
At the same time, we need to recognize the faults of
denying ourselves and others the benefits of
democracy.
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Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Suggestions
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Globalization in the trade of material goods requires
increased scrutiny and surveillance.
Greater restrictions need to be placed on the
dissemination of sensitive scientific information and
technology.
All institutions, not just the government, must learn to
recognize and speak out against groups that advocate
violent responses to legal actions taken by others.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Suggestions
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Preemptive military action, the last of the lesser evils
to be considered, poses two distinct problems.
1. How to determine when military action is justified.
2. Who should authorize it internationally.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Conclusions
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The major ethical problem in democracies is not the
absence or loss of stable, clear, ethical values, but
simply living within the real constraints of the values we
have.
Because we always will struggle with such constraints,
society must constantly engage itself in a process of
self-justification of its values and adjustment to its
institutional structures.
Democracy in an Age of Terror
Michael Ignatieff
Conclusions
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It is a condition of our freedom that we cannot compel
anyone to believe in the premises of a liberal
democracy.
So we are stuck, as we should be, with the duty to
persuade ourselves and others to respect the dignity
and rights of others while also allowing for reasonable
constraints upon our actions.